3 courses with the subject RELI, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
RELI 242World Religions3
An investigation of the nature and development of the religious practices and traditions that have most shaped the global community, including their teachings, rituals, institutions and ethics. The course includes the major traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and some other traditions which have contributed to their development.
An in-depth study of key elements of religion, as evidenced within a single religious tradition. This approach permits a nuanced look at the elements of religion, as well as a greater appreciation for the diversity that exists within each religious tradition. Elements of religion that will be studied in this course include at least three of the following: 1) origin story, 2) sacred narrative, 3) liturgy, 4) popular or folk traditions, 5) ethics/moral code, 6) wisdom literature, 7) mysticism, 8) conceptions of an afterlife, 9) theories of community/social critique, and 10) intellectual self-reflection on the religious tradition (i.e., theology). Each of these elements will be studied through engagement with both historical and contemporary primary texts. All sections of the course will enrich the students’ understanding through the application of a secondary disciplinary lens that is relevant to the elements of religion under consideration (as, for instance, philosophy relates to the speculative elements of religion-5, 6, 8, 9 in the list above-and literary studies relates to its narrative and poetic elements-1, 2, 3, and 6 in the list above). Special emphasis will be placed on the religion’s role in the global community and the ways in which religious thought can be used to benefit the global community. No previous religion coursework is required.
Completion of FGLO pillar *Fulfills Civitae Core PGLO WI
RELI 342Religion and Literature3
Religion and Literature performs an in-depth study of a particular international religious movement and analyzes the impact of this movement on major figures in world literature. Students will learn how to study a religious movement in the context of intellectual history, as a school of thought with a coherent ethical system and social vision. They will trace the influence of this vision of the human subject and this ideal of community on varied cultures throughout the globe by studying relevant literary figures. Topics may vary from semester to semester.
